Spring-balance.



No. 739,035. PATBNTED SEPT. 15, 190s..r

J' M. TRINER.

SPRING BALANGE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 18. 1899.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented September 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

`JAMES M. TRINER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PELOUZE SCALE daMFG. CO., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A COR- PORATION OF ILLINOIS.

SPRING-BALANCE.

SLEEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,035, datedSeptember 15, 1903.

Application filed February 16, 1899. Serial No. 705,623. (No model.)

To atl whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, J AMES M. TEINER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Balances, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, 'and exact specification.

My invention relates more particularly to that class of scales orspring-balances in which a suspended coil-spring is connected at itslower end to the index or pointer and also to the hook or other devicefor supporting the material to be weighed. There are various uses towhich scales of this character are put in which the careless handling ofthe object to be weighed results in stretching or elongating the spring,and thereby rendering the scale inaccurate by causing the index orpointer to stand normally at a more or less high graduation on the scaleinstead of at zero, where it should stand. This defect is especiallycommon in the use of the scale for weighing ice, for it is customary forthe icemanto attach the scale toV the block of ice before the block isremoved from the wagon or other resting-place and then pull the blockout and allow it to fall until arrested in its descent by the tension ofthe spring alone. Such use of the scale results in the springof a scaleadapted, say, for weighing four hundred pounds as a maximum weight beingstretched beyond four hundred by a weight which is less than fourhundred, and conse quently the spring is so elongated that its weighin gcapacity with reference to the scaledial is materially affected, and theindex or pointer is caused to show a false and excessive weight.

The primary object of my invention, therefore, is to provide the balanceor scale with means for sustaining the Weight placed thereonindependently of the spring when the weight exceeds a certain amount,thus relieving the spring of undue stretching.

A further object of my-inventionis to provide scales of this characterwith an adjustable index or pointer whereby such index may be set atzero under normal conditions should it through any cause be forced outof adjustment with reference to the graduations on the scale-dial.

' With these ends iu view my invention cousists in certain features ofnovelty in the c0n struction, combination, and arrangement of parts bywhich the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearingare attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of my improved scale. Fig.2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof, taken on the line 2 2,Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2;and Fig. 4 is a modification hereinafter explained.

V 1 represents the casing of the scale or bal ance, which isconstructed, preferably, of a section of tubing of suflicient length tohouse the spring and other parts. In the upper end of the casing 1 issecured a plug or cap 2 by means of screws 3 and having on its innerside a boss 4, provided with the usual .iins 5, which enable the bossbeing screwed into or between the convolutions of the spring 6. Into thelower end of the spring is screwed a similar boss 7, formed on the upperend'of a head 3.

Swiveled in and passing through the plug 2 is a shank 9, on whose upperend is formed a supporting-ring 10 or equivalent device, while the lowerend of the shank 9 is screwed into or otherwise secured in the upper endofa yoke 11, and passing through and swiveled in the head 3 is a similarshank 12, Whose lower end carries a hook 13 or other device for thesupport of the material to be weighed, while its upper end is screwedinto or otherwise secured to another yoke 14E similar tothe yoke 11.These two yokes 11 and 14 are located within lthe spring 6, and theiropposed ends are perforated for the passage of a rod 15, which when theparts are in their normal position, as shown in Fig. 2,is of not greaterlength than the distance between the inner sides of the outer ends ofthe yokes, and each end of the rod15 carries a head or stop 16 17,secured thereon in any suitable manner and being of sufficient size toprevent the rod being entirely pulled from either IOO of the yokes 1114. The distance between these two heads 1G 17 is such that the springmay be elongated or stretched to the full capacity of the scale-dial'and preferably a little beyond such capacity; but should the weight orjerk on the spring be sufcicnt to stretch it an abnormal extent or an.extent that would be detrimental 'to it the head 17 would come incontact with the lower end of the yoke 11 and the head 1G in contactwith the upper end of the yoke 14 before such abnormal elongation of thespring is reached, and consequently the rod 15, with the yokes andconnected parts, would sustain the abnormal strain and relieve thespring thereof. The stems 9 12, with the yokes 1l 14 connectedtherewith, being swiveled in the plug 2 and head S, respectively, itwill be seen that they may revolve independently of each other and alsoindependently of the spring and the balance of the scale, thus avoidingall strain by the twisting of the load being weighed and also enablingthe user to revolve the casing to any convenient p osition for readingthe dial.

18 represents an arm or plate which extends up between the casing l andthe scaledial shown at 19 and is of sufficient length to close the slot2O of the scale-dial from end to end when the parts are in their normalposition. The upper end of this arm 18 is provided with an index orpointer 21, while its lower end is bent inwardly and thence downwardlyand provided in such downwardlyextending portion with a vertical slot22, through which passes a set-screw 23, the latter being threaded inthe head 8 and serving to clamp the bar or plate 18 in any position towhich it may be adjusted, thus enabling the ready adjustment of theindex 21 should it. fail to register with zero under normal conditions.Located under the head of the screw 23 is a washer 24, which completelycovers the lower downturned end of the plate 18 and excludes the slot 22from view, so as to avoid the suggestion offered by the presence of theslot that the index might be adjusted for indicating a false weight. Itis also preferable to cover the head of the screw 23 by a shield 25,secured to the head 8 by screws 26, so that it will be necessary toremove the shield 25 before theindex can be conveniently adjusted. Thebar 18 is guided in its longitudinal movement by the index 21 working inthe slot 20 and also by the screws or rivets 27, which hold the scaleplate or dial 19 in place.

In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 4 I employ two U-shaped links1l 14a instead of the yokes 11 14 and the bar 15 before described. Theselinks 11a 141L are interlocked and slide back and forth within thespring, as before described with reference to the yokes 1l 14; but inmany respects the links 11 14 are superior to the construction denscribed in Fig. 2, especially in that by their employment all danger offriction against the spring or of their ends becoming engaged betweenthe convolutions of the spring is absolutely avoided. Furthermore, theyconstitute a universal joint that will permit the spring to be bent ineither direction wh'en extended from the scale-casing, whereas with thebar 15 such bending would endanger the parts and be likely to bend saidbar and cause it to thereafter interfere with the accurate operation ofthe scale. Each of the links 11a 14n has its ends passed through andupset in a ring 28, through which loosely passes the inner ends of thestems 9 12, the rings 28 being held from withdrawal by washers 29, whichare in turn held in place by upsetting the end of the stem, as shown at30, thus permitting 'the links 1l 14a to swivel on the stems and alsoholding the stems in place and permitting them to swivel or rotate withreference to the head 8 and plug 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A spring-balance having in combination a coil-spring, two memberssecured in opposite ends of said spring, a support for the springpassing through the upper one of said members and swiveled thereto inline with the longitudinal axis of the spring, a support for the articleto be weighed secured to the lower one of said members, two memberssecured to the first said members respectively, arranged within thespring and connected together at their contiguous ends with capabilityof a limited independent movement for limiting the stretch of thespring, one of said latter members being also swiveled on thelongitudinal axis of the spring, with relation to the aforesaid supportfor the spring whereby it may rotate with the spring independ-` ently ofsaid support, and an index operatively connected with the spring.

2. A spring-balance having-in combination aspring,an indexoperativelyconnected therewith, a plug secured to one end of said spring, a supportfor the spring having a swiveled stem passing through said plug, moansfor supporting the material to be weighed having a stem provided withswivel connection with the lower end of the spring and a link connectionbetween the said stems for limiting the stretch of the spring,substantially as set forth.

3. A spring-balance having in combination a spring,.a casing inclosingsaid spring, a slotted dial-plate secured to said casing, a plate or barlocated between said dial-plate and casing and having an indexprojecting through said slot and provided with a slot in its lower end,a head secured to the lower end of the spring and having means forsupporting the material to be weighed, a set-screw passing through saidslot in said bar into said head for holding the bar to its adjustment aplate pierced by said screw for excluding IOO IIO

said slot in the bar from View and a shield secured to said head oversaid plate, substantially as set forth.

4. A spring-balance havingin combination the spring-balance, and twointerloeked links 1o arranged within the spring and being oonnected tothe said means respectively and swiveled with reference to the spring,suba spring, an index Connected therewith and stant'ally as set forth.operated thereby, means secured to one end of said spring for supportingthe material to be weighed, means having connection with the other endOf the spring for supporting' J AMES M. TRINER. Witnesses:

EDNA B. JOHNSON, F. A. HOPKINS.

